ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2016

Rollout begins shortly.

Here's the Spotify playlist.

61-77 today, 41-60 tomorrow, 21-40 on Wednesday, top 20 on Thursday.

Enjoy!

TOO LOW

http://i.imgur.com/KRUNA2n.png

http://i.imgur.com/8tvMVls.jpg

77 MARK BARROTT Sketches From an Island 2 (207 points, 8 votes)

i don't usually believe in the seasonality of music but winter is definitely not ideal for this one

Sketches From An Island was #38 in 2014. This one's more of the same in a pretty good way, listened to it a bit over the summer, can't really remember anything specific about it beyond the soothing vibes

I like that Mark Barrott album, maybe a bit too slight to have voted for it though

Didn't hear about this but did enjoy "Cascades" from the tracks playlist, although I see that's not on the album.

almost.....but there's something a little stiff about it, I'd like it to billow in the breeze a bit more.

207 points! That seems a high bar...

album scores are always higher since theres fewer of them and no vote splitting

i hadn't heard about this but the first two tracks are nice, i usually like this sort of thing

I got with his double a-side a lot more than this album last year. Those first couple of track titles on the album are just crossing that line for me

http://i.imgur.com/fPZ1EG7.jpg

76 GLENN BRANCA Symphony no. 13 (Hallucination City) For 100 Guitars (210 points, 6 votes, 1 first place vote)

I voted for Barrott. don't have much of a defense against "too slight" other than albums like this have utility and I actually put this on more often than more substantial stuff.

I imagine this one is heavier

Let me provide the first TOO LOW of the day

Paging Sund4r, DAM

(Didn't vote for this myself but listened a couple of times and it's really impressive/gigantic)

Let me provide the first TOO LOW of the day

I gave it the #1 vote so I'm sympathetic to this pov. I'm just happy to see it place, though, really. I really think it's the culmination of Branca's symphonic guitar work.

Out of the records that International Feel put out this year, I think I prefer more expansive drift of the CFCF and the Wolf Muller & Cass albums. Mark Barrott is just a bit too cocktailsy for me.

Think Branca may have a little too much loud guitar for Tuomas btw

cool. not heard either of these but it looks like an interesting start

This is guaranteed to be Tuomas's favorite. ONE HUNDRED GUITARS.

"This would be okay if it wasn't for the pointless guitar"

ONE HUNDRED POINTLESS GUITARS

http://i.imgur.com/RgfQqum.jpg

75 TIM HECKER Love Streams (210 points, 7 votes)

haven't gotten around to this one but i approve of tim hecker in general

Oh wow, I haven't kept up with his work in a few years but I'm listening with interest.

Never heard it. I like Tim Hecker but its something I'm rarely in the mood for

Tim Hecker rather perfectly marks the point where the experimental discourse and I go separate ways

btw I don't think "cocktailsy" fairly applies to the entirety of Sketches, unless they play Cluster at your local cocktail bar

Didn't hear about this but did enjoy "Cascades" from the tracks playlist, although I see that's not on the album.

― Jeff W

I liked Cascades a lot more than anything on the album.

Not as dense and overwhelming as the last couple but definitely the prettiest record that Tim Hecker has put out for a while

This sounds like boilerplate Eno through a broken speaker. *shrug*

hecker record was p nixe

It definitely sounds like a Tim Hecker album.

I think the Van Halen tribute is still my favourite thing by him tbh.

http://i.imgur.com/GTVLUX7.jpg

74 EMMA RUTH RUNDLE Marked For Death (219 points, 7 votes)

yesssss

"Real Big Sky" was easily the most devastating song I heard all year

i still don't get the point of Tim Hecker. I've really tried with his stuff, but I just can't get my head around it. Too ambient to be noise, too noisy to be ambient. He compresses everything so much that I can barely work out what's going on. Just never works for me.

very very good record, was my #4 or so i think

I'm devastated that I totally missed the voting for this...

Guess I'll just be an observer this year :(

that's how I feel, but I actually voted ;)

didn't vote for ERR but...

"Real Big Sky" was easily the most devastating song I heard all year

that's how I feel, but I actually voted ;)

― frogbs, Monday, January 30, 2017 9:53 AM (one minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

You... feel like you didn't vote?

Dog latin, let me know what you think of this, if you don't know it. Otherwise, I don't always disagree with you re Hecker. I love Fennesz, who isn't worlds away, so I don't know what that's about. (I don't think it's just that Fennesz plays guitar.)

You... feel like you didn't vote?

no, but that nothing I voted for is gonna make the countdown. Except for the Underworld album which I'm sure will show its face around here!!!

I don't always disagree with you re Hecker.

I mean, it always seems pleasant.

a single house in SE London has thrown nearly 100 points at your possible number 1. probably 78'd though xp

This is neither here nor there but why does the bookmark come up as 'Album Poll Rollout' and not 'ILM's Top 77 albums of 2016'?

Wow, you guys weren't kidding about the Branca album! If ever I was imprisoned in one of those CIA black sites, they'd only need to play this once to make me rat every one of my comrades.

Because I had to give a different title to start the thread. Anything with ILM or 77 in the title seems to be prohibited or blocked now?

dog latin, there are some (comparatively) sparser pieces on this Tim Hecker album, not quite so much information assaulting yr eardrums. some really beautiful textures, it's kind of like an electronic mbv album with the rock element removed

xp haha, sund4r hits the nail on the head with his fennesz comparison

xp, how strange!

love streams is the best album that I heard live this year while I was in line waiting for a beer

kidding, I enjoy Tim Hecker's albums and one of my favorite live performances was one of his shows, but I haven't listened to the most recent album nearly as much as some others. love streams differs with the ways instruments are used and kind of drift out of the fog/fuzz, maybe more accessible? idk

"love streams is the best album that I heard live this year while I was in line waiting for a beer"

If I had a nickel

"Real Big Sky" was easily the most devastating song I heard all year

I voted for this record as more of a singular piece, but damned if this song isn't really standing out to me this morning.

'Medusa' is great as well.

yeah "Real Big Sky" is crushing

wow at Real Big Sky, will have to listen to the rest

what kind of thing is that Rundle album?

Wide-open and spacious singer/songwriter stuff with crunchy parts

somewhat gothy downbeat singer-songwriter stuff, RIYL Marissa Nadler, Chelsea Wolfe, Anna von Hausswolff etc

voted for tim hecker - not his best but its up there

perfect soundtrack for walking to the gym in sub-zero weather during the twilight of the obama years

http://i.imgur.com/2cTrqDu.jpg

73 MAREN MORRIS Hero (221 points, 7 votes)

TOO HIGH

way too low

the little album that could in terms of it climbing up my year-end list basically every time i listened to it

a remarkable, fully-formed pop country debut imo

Maren Morris <3 Never thought I'd love a country artist singing "me and Diddy dripping diamonds like Marilyn" so much, as on "Rich"

Opening run of six is unimpeachable, love the weariness of having to hear her bff complain yet again on "Drunk Girls Don't Cry" especially

I'd loved her singles and EP before the album but as a debut statement it really put me in mind of a young Taylor Swift, except worldlier and more prone to sarcasm

Emma Ruth Rundle sounds intriguing

re: maren morris, "once" is the most crushing song i listened to on repeat last year probably

Sund4r - I'm at work at the moment so probably not the best time to listen to this (I managed about 2 mins). I guess the point is it's supposed to be jarring but my main thing with him (and similarly Oneohtrix Point Never) is that with 'arty' music like this I feel like I need some sort of context to understand what is being projected conceptually, and with a lot of their music I feel I'm missing the point a lot of the time. Did like Oneohtrix's last album cos he was clearly going back to the aggressive boys-bedroom music of his youth, and that's something I can get behind.

http://i.imgur.com/aAf6tA5.jpg

72 PET SHOP BOYS Super (222 points, 7 votes)

Not the precover version?

refreshed the page and the latest entry made me physically shudder as i flashed back to the abysmal single that placed last week

Yeah, idgi

Lots of legacy artists did good work this year. PSBs are not among them.

that really was a bad song.

The first album I ever bought was the PSB Disco remix album in '87, but I haven't felt nostalgic/interested enough to listen to anything they have done in decades.

A couple of the album tracks seemed superior to the single tbf, but the album as a whole had nothing on Electric, agreed

...hence its lower placement I guess

http://i.imgur.com/E4hVifh.jpg

71 ASTRONOID Air (222 points, 8 votes)

YEAH

pop prog metal album of the year

xpost All I know of Emma Ruth Rundle is that "Living with the black dog" tune from a couple of years back, which was really good; hard-edged shoegazery blues. Is the album in a similar vein?

A couple of the album tracks seemed superior to the single tbf, but the album as a whole had nothing on Electric, agreed

― Check the BNM Pitchfork track review, it says Weezer too (imago)

Yeah, it definitely wasn't in the same league as Electric. I didn't vote for Super but I like the album fine. The Pop Kids was my favourite song by a mile. I really don't understand the hate for it.

Michael B - this Emma Ruth Rundle os more goth than shoegaze. She seems to have left the majority of her shoegaze material for her band Marriages.

it's not disimilar but that previous album (some heavy ocean) was better than the new one is as far as memorable tunes go xps

This is weird. It sounds like Mogwai and Stryper rearranging Death Cab For Cutie songs.

ASTRONOID!

Astronoid reminds me of Alcest a bit

my last-minute top 10 crasher of the year

Astronoid are pretty lovely

I was enjoying this astronoid album until it got to the vocals.

I can't deal with the drums. They actively detract from the songs for me.

I like the drums

the drums are awesome idgi

i think simon h. is the person who recommended me this album initially, thank u simon, i have always wanted elliott to be a metal band

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5JczPu_9fhs/Ug0NQoKv87I/AAAAAAAA1Kk/1PGqFDI0ySE/s320/Dogs-astro.pnghttp://static5.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_small/5/51355/2626148-untitled.png

someone should edit this album and just remove all the vocal sections, I think it could still work as a short but good album.

i think the drums are too rigid for me here

I was enjoyingwasn't paying attention to this astronoid album until it got to the vocals.

this is odd

They should take out the guitars, too - just leave the bass and the uprushing air.
(I like it, really.)

hey these are pretty good so far!

Yes!

i think i'd rather listen to rosetta, or mouth of the architect, or hum, or jesu, or a lot of other similar things

I spin this one all the time. Gets the indie-metal thing right, or at least right for me. (I often want the singing to be prettier on indie-metal records if they're going to do the melodic thing, and these guys can sing. Then, Mew is one of my favourite bands going so)

It sounds like Mogwai and Stryper rearranging Death Cab For Cutie songs.

I said "Mew singing over a Scale the Summit/Sunny Day Real Estate mashup" earlier. (I love all three though.)

I wish they'd drop the metal leanings and just be a heavy rock band. Which is why I don't like the drums; they don't work for me with the music.

this sounds like a metal version of teenage fanclub

Rundle sounds good so far btw.

http://i.imgur.com/bREieU0.jpg

70 KISS DANIEL New Era (226 points, 6 votes)

didn't realize that branca had recorded hallucination city and released it this year. i played it with him years ago. i was loads of fun. but it's ancient.

YES! I rued voting for the Kiss Daniel album over "Mama" when that missed the singles poll but this is vindication!

Yes, we've been waiting for a legit recording for a long time. (I played in the premiere in 2001 too.) xp

bc you missed it last week, "MAMA"

those strings! the marimba! that chord progression! it envelops you.

nice to see Maren Morris made it.

this sketches from an island album is super chill and awesome

Yeah! Astronoid last minute top five crasher here as well. Insanely lovely album.

And love to see Kiss Daniel on here as well, even though I haven't heard the whole album yet. Will remedy tonight.

I voted for Astronoid, the first half of it is decent but the last few songs are amazing. It could so easily go over the line into total cheese but it doesn't.

Didn't really warm to the Kiss Daniel album but I'm glad some afro-pop got in after a slightly lacking amount in the tracks chart

tim hecker album is cool, though he is someone i tend to admire more than enjoy. i have a few of his albums and they are all good but i don't feel like i need any more

Omg so glad astronoid made it without me!!

Mark Barrott album is great, maybe a step below Sketches from an Island 1 but it's just a great listen. voted for it.

enjoying the Emma Ruth Rundle a lot too.

*throws chum into the water*

http://i.imgur.com/wdJczZl.jpg

69 BON IVER 22, A Million (230 points, 10 votes)

*farts*

*runs farts through advanced auto tune technology*

I'm actually one of the few Bon Iver stans on the board and even I loathed this

10 people didn't listen to enough music this year.

-_-

Marcos otm. Really surprised this made it.

recorded in 2004 while he was recuperating from a back injury and confined to his bed, Fogelberg claimed in a journal found after his death that this recently unearthed album he recorded over the span of two weeks was influenced by Radiohead's 'Amnesiac'. "These kids are the sound of the future, this is my response to their advancements," he wrote. Light in the Attic is proud to bring you this left field curiosity from an under appreciated legend.

enjoying the kiss daniel

i shall listen to bo niver with an open mind

i'd never heard bon iver before this album and it was lot better than i had assumed it would be. i think this ended up being my #20

astronoid is intriguing

kiss daniel was a great summer album

napo was my fav

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syKAjHFAweo

I quite like the first 13 or 14 seconds of the emma ruth rundle title track

lol apparently they had a guest spot on the perturbator album i listened to a bunch

maren morris is ... ugh . i think modern pop country is just not for me, i'll go listen to george jones instead

i must have just assumed they were some synthwave randos

tbh I've heard a lot of worse things in my life than this Bon Iver album, but Justin Vernon is just such a unfun drip of a person that it's hard to consider anything he makes good enough to care about.

bon iver was pretty dull, it didn't really do anything with the ideas it had. i might have liked it more if it were a bit more fleshed out. 33 "GOD" was probably the best track

will have to listen to the kiss daniel, mama is really nice

kiss daniel is great. "another day" is the highlight for me

this emma ruth rundle album is sick

http://i.imgur.com/fKe8DaT.jpg

68 KRISTIN KONTROL X-Communicate (231 points, 9 votes)

oh damn she's in a band with the guy from drab majesty (best album of 2017)

sorry for the lag; playlist is populated now.

I listened to Kristin Kontrol on dog latin's rec but I think I'm full to the gills with neo-80s stuff at this stage

I ended up cooling on this album fairly quickly. I hope Dum Dum Girls aren't done for good, because I prefer her in that setting than in this one.

don't know what bon iver was going for on this album but it's making me want to tear off strips my own skin and shove it in my ears

this didn't really do much for me as far as this sort of thing goes

this one didn't get its hooks in me like some of the other shambhala thread favorites

this was really boring. it's presumably beaten Teen into the poll, which is an indictment on our collective taste tbh

re: Kristin Control - "show Me" "what is love" and (especially) "X-Communicate" are all great tracks to come back to

she's also high quality live.

For this type album, both Teen and Pr0files made better records this year.

oh i really like the kk record

But as I said on the shambhala thread about halfway through the year, I used to take every call on this stuff but now I let most of it go to voicemail.

Pr0files in august company there. Will have to check it out. Teen album is SO good

I didnt really get into the Teen album much but "All About Us" was one of my favourite tracks of the year

so many things i've literally never heard of in this thread so far. can only be a good thing

pr0files album is pretty good, i think it missed my ballot though

"Gone For Good" was my favorite on the Teen album because it sounds like a Cocteau Twins song produced by Vince Clarke.

i really really liked one of the songs on Pr0files and played it to death, so much so that I forgot to listen to the res fo the album more than 1-2 times.

http://i.imgur.com/3MBi3qX.jpg

67 STEVE HAUSCHILDT Strands (236 points, 8 votes)

nice...this hauschildt album is great

kiss daniel record is amazing and too low. first side of the kristin kontrol album is amazing and slightly let down by its second side

yeah that's a good one

nomar turned me onto this dude in another thread, shared this article w/ me: https://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/stevehauschildt

hauschildt and i grew up in the same cleveland suburb, he now lives a block up from my grandparents' old house

album is great, i voted for it

https://media.giphy.com/media/gFwZfXIqD0eNW/giphy.gif

for me the magic of emeralds was the interplay and balancing act between the three members, all the solo material i've heard just sounds like 1/3 of emeralds and i gave up on them. is there anything special about this particular one?

i think emeralds splitting up was great if it means he'll keep releasing albums like this yearly, along w/mcguire's pretty consistently great work.

love every emeralds album i've heard of course

kiss daniel record is amazing and too low.

Brad otm. everyone should listen to Sugarboy's "Hola Hola" too

is there anything special about this particular one?

― just another (diamonddave85), Monday, January 30, 2017 9:17 AM (three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

maybe not but it still made the bottom half of my ballot cuz it's my personal sweet spot for music of that type, imo his output has been very solid and has way more quality control than McGuire.

i'll have to give this one a go, previous hauschildt records i heard were pretty but unremarkable

btw i posted the wrong link to the RA feature on hauschildt, here is the right one https://www.residentadvisor.net/features/2852

Re the comparison of Hecker to boilerplate Eno, I think the Grumbling Fur album sounds like Before And After Science era Eno in a good way, though it didn't make my ballot, and I'm not sure if it'll make this poll. Worth checking out if you crave that sound though.

There's plenty of things in the poll that aren't my thing, but for some reason none irritate me the way Bon Iver does.

Astronoid grew on me pretty quickly at the end of the year too, made my ballot. I always felt like Deafheaven and sometimes Alcest ruin some perfectly good shoegaze with shrieking, so this hits the spot.

I had Hauschildt on fairly frequent rotation in my playlist in December, but it didn't make a strong enough impression compared to some other Kosmische type stuff (The Early Years, Camera, Cavern Of Anti-Matter). I might like it better than the Oren Ambarchi though.

Oh, Hauschildt is similar to Ambarchi? I should look into this then.

(after I finish spinning Astronoid again)

OK, no it doesn't sound much like Oren Ambarchi but it is nice so far.

there is a deep sadness to that hauschildt record that makes it resonate w/ me more than similar albums might

http://i.imgur.com/tB52yCd.jpg

66 JUNIOR BOYS Big Black Coat (241 points, 12 votes)

ooh, there's one I've heard

I actually don't remember if I voted for it but it's a good one!

I thought the JB ep that followed this album was of uniformly higher quality, but this album's p good.

Weakest JB album to date, and still very good.

I feel like the last few JB albums have nearly identical hit:miss ratios

It's way better than Begone Dull Care, for me at least

xxpost Really LBI? I though it was a slight return to form. not strong enough for me to vote for it tho. "baby dont hurt me" is such a great tune

Yeah, I thought Begone was unanimously agreed upon as their weakest.

Anyway, if you haven't heard the Kiss Me All Night EP, also from '16, it's a delight.

I liked Begone better, but the difference is negligible to be honest.

I haven't heard that one!

the back half of Begone was excellent, i always thought

And now the moment virtually no one has been waiting for...!!!

http://i.imgur.com/k0C1fa0.jpg

65 JUTE GYTE Perdurance (242 points, 7 votes, 3 first place votes)

Decent. Cut from my ballot late on

(my #1, probably in my all-time top five records. I don't expect you to understand)

It's slightly frightening what this guy might be capable of

Such a good album.

voted for the junior boys record!

what's the definition of a cult these days

oh this junior boys record is so good

microtonal avant-metal by a mild-mannered literature nerd? xp

more like just shyte amirite

(listening to it now and enjoying it quite a lot btw)

🎷

I really enjoyed the Hauschild. The Bon Iver is confusing me, which counts for something.

this seems um catchier(?) than the other stuff i've heard by them

Groovier too

http://i.imgur.com/Mm44A5C.jpg

64 MOODYMANN DJ-Kicks (248 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote)

YES

this was my #2, felt like a really crucial mix for 2016. a really mournful album.

wooooo

this mix is so fn good, voted for it

Weakest JB album to date, and still very good.

― Le Bateau Ivre, Monday, January 30, 2017 11:45 AM (forty-five minutes ago)

otm

Playing the title track from Steve Hauschildt, never heard him before, I like it, best thing in either poll so far

title track is a hilight, the rest isnt as good, but still good

Didn't really like the Moodymann record, I forgot all about it till I saw it again here just now.

nice record imo, listened to that a fair bit. uptown tricks was my favourite song on there iirc, great to hear our darkness in that context too, deep bits were deeeeeep

saer and tuomas invited to take the jute gyte perendurance test - how many seconds can you last? a cinnamon challenge for our time

It's good to see Jute Gyte claiming its rightful place in ilx EOY history. For all the meme-y lulz about it, it's an album that continues to baffle me, break my brain and rewire it in a way I've seldom experienced. It's a cleansing experience, closest to rebirth I can think of in this sodden life.

itt -- a bunch of albums i didn't listen to

will have to do some homework

i imagine a bunch of my votes will pop up later in the countdown, my ballot felt pretty consensus-y this year

moodyman record is good, i voted for it

I did really like the Moodymann DJ Kicks, though, especially Guttah Guttah by Dopehead

Voted for Branca and Jute Gyte, right on top of each other.

Stoked to check out Hauschildt, Astronoid and Kiss Daniel.

http://i.imgur.com/i0nAkzD.jpg

63 TANYA TAGAQ Retribution (250 points, 8 votes)

And the surprises continue. Thought I'd kept up this year.

Cut this from my ballot last-minute, regretted it, glad it's placed. I cut it because I instead voted for the *incredible* title-track really high, and the rest isn't quite as great, but it's still a wonderful record and you all should hear it

How many times do we have to tell you not to feed enokitake to dogs?

My #4. Wonderful album, and her November concert in Ottawa was the best show I've seen in years.

A late addition to my ballot. Not something I think I will listen to often, but a very powerful album.

I didnt get a chance to listen to Retribution but I was very much rooting for it to place!

Notice

Still annoyed she was snubbed in the metal poll noms

OK, wow.

A real contrast between this and the tracks poll.

And, yeah, something else live.

saer and tuomas invited to take the jute gyte perendurance test - how many seconds can you last? a cinnamon challenge for our time

― I Am In Atlanta And Thug Is Young (imago),

about 5 minutes in total

it was neither a genial nor a mellifluous experience, but its far from the worst there has been, especially in the tracks poll

http://i.imgur.com/UA3HuGr.jpg

62 KAYTRANADA 99.9% (251 points, 10 votes)

yes! dope record

Nice cover. Starts promisingly. Like some kind of jazz-rock for the 21st century. I haven't heard it before.

goons were cold on this album iirc, i kinda liked it but didnt vote for it

I loved several tracks, but I could never listen to it straight through without getting bored.

If I'd only given Tagaq bottom spot on my ballot it'd have won this mini-tussle for the soul of Canada

You're acting like the Drake album isn't in the top 5!

:D

Whats Kaytranada?

Chill beats with lots of guest vocalists.

I voted for this one, some excellent songs and drum sounds. Sustains a pretty nice groove for the first 9-10 songs then falls off sharply, but there is so much charm and inventiveness throughout

Ok cool. Tbh I was hoping it was acid jazz

Last one for today!

http://i.imgur.com/udlIaMO.jpg

61 PARQUET COURTS Human Performance (255 points, 8 votes)

parquet courts are very good at what they do, I'm just not generally in the mood for it anymore

I was pretty into their first album and then have been bored out of my mind ever since.

I didn't even bother to listen to this one until right around xmas.

who

Nice. I didn't vote for this but it is a cool album. Somewhere in between Pavement and The Fall, a little weird but not too much. The music of these guys has character. Indie is not dead.

I liked "Berlin Got Blurry" but this album made no impression on me and I love their first 2 albums. Possibly not in the mood for it anymore either

FICKLE

I liked the album, but then I saw them live -- it was one of the worst shows I've seen in years. The band were listless, sloppy, made awkward and sarcastic comments to the audience during the excruciating long pauses between songs. I haven't had the desire to listen to them since. Every now and then I need a reminder why I mostly go to metal and hard rock shows, though indie-ish bands like Thee Oh Sees, White Denim, The Drones are more sure bets to deliver live.

Taking the Pavement obsession too far by the sounds of it

this and Bon Iver are my desert island discs. I feel so much for them I took the time to create 4 sock accounts just to boost them up.

Just catching up on the list. Quite a few albums I haven't heard that I need to check out.

I voted for Kristin Kontrol. I like Dum Dum Girls a lot but this is my favourite record she's done. It grew on me a lot throughout the year.

Junior Boys were 25 on my list. It's All True is their weakest record for me. Great opening song and the last two songs are two of the best things they've ever done. It loses me a bit in the middle section. There were a couple of songs on Big Black Coat that seemed a little unfinished but overall I enjoyed it. Begone Dull Care is really underrated. If it didn't have Work as the second track I think it would be remembered more fondly.

Totally agree with Johnny Fever about Kaytranada. I couldn't get into the album as a whole despite some really good individual songs. I wanted to like it more than I did because of the artwork.

Recap time

77 MARK BARROTT Sketches From an Island 2 (207 points, 8 votes)
76 GLENN BRANCA Symphony no. 13 (Hallucination City) For 100 Guitars (210 points, 6 votes, 1 first place vote)
75 TIM HECKER Love Streams (210 points, 7 votes)
74 EMMA RUTH RUNDLE Marked For Death (219 points, 7 votes)
73 MAREN MORRIS Hero (221 points, 7 votes)
72 PET SHOP BOYS Super (222 points, 7 votes)
71 ASTRONOID Air (222 points, 8 votes)
70 KISS DANIEL New Era (226 points, 6 votes)
69 BON IVER 22, A Million (230 points, 10 votes)
68 KRISTIN KONTROL X-Communicate (231 points, 9 votes)
67 STEVE HAUSCHILDT Strands (236 points, 8 votes)
66 JUNIOR BOYS Big Black Coat (241 points, 12 votes)
65 JUTE GYTE Perdurance (242 points, 7 votes, 3 first place votes)
64 MOODYMANN DJ-Kicks (248 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote)
63 TANYA TAGAQ Retribution (250 points, 8 votes)
62 KAYTRANADA 99.9% (251 points, 10 votes)
61 PARQUET COURTS Human Performance (255 points, 8 votes)

parquet courts don't really sound very much like pavement

Not heard much off this list, but tbh the bands I know who are on it aren't that exciting, and none of the descriptions of the other things sound like I should be rushing to hear them either. Maybe I'm just overly jaded. The main exception is the Tanya Tagaq album, which I voted for and strongly strongly recommend. Had liked the sound of her before but this is the one that really ~got~ me.

Only thing I voted for to make it today was Emma Ruth Rundle, and I have EZ and DJP to thank for pushing it so hard long past the time I should've listened to it on my own.

There isn't going to be anything else remotely similar to terrifying Inuit throat-singing, and have no idea what else would push those kinds of buttons, and I doubt anything else like that will show up on this poll.

It's not a bad start, I didn't see that Glenn Branca on any other list, I like it. Emma Ruth Rundle is great, Astronoid is glorious, Jute Gyte is intense. I hadn't listened to Junior Boys in many years but this is pretty good.

Parquet Courts don't sound at all like Pavement unless you mean that they're Americans and play guitars.

The comparison held more water on the first album, but not since really.

They sound like a boring Modern Lovers to me.

does anyone have a link to the nomination thread?

0/17! (and now predicting 7/77 if I'm lucky)

Hot takes:

MARK BARROTT - Listened to tracks 1-3. Sounds like Sorcerer but without the nu disco beats. Promising. Have saved for later.
TIM HECKER - heh, I "saved this for later" when it first came out, still haven't listened to it.
ASTRONOID - listened to this all the way through today. A bit suspicious of all the ILM love for metal with soft female vox, but this was enjoyable enough.
KISS DANIEL - 'Mama' was a bit rote but a couple of the other tracks I sampled are amazing. Saved.
KRISTIN KONTROL - the title track is on my 2016 playlist but the other 'singles' never quite did it for me, so never got to the album. The more recent "Baby are You In?" is the strongest thing I've heard by her.
STEVE HAUSCHILDT - gave up on this after track 4. Nothingy.
JUNIOR BOYS - the later Kiss Me All Night EP was great; and that was quite enough JBs for one year thanks.
TANYA TAGAQ - rubbish. Couldn't get to the end of a single song.
KAYTRANADA - agree with the consensus upthread; about 99.9th on my 2016 albums list as it happens.
PARQUET COURTS - not my thing, but "Berlin Got Blurry" was a keeper.

Will check out E.R.R. and M. Morris another day.

ILM's 2016 End of Year Albums & Tracks Poll / NOMINATIONS THREAD

A bit suspicious of all the ILM love for metal with soft female vox

uhhhh

lol

Parquet Courts: I find that their songs are difficult to predict, that they are good for surprises, that they have a rough sound. All that is true for Pavement as well.

Looking back at the nominations thread, I just realized that I, myself, nominated Nao's "Girlfriend" for tracks and maybe that's why I was extra surprised when it wasn't on the final list for voting. No one to blame but myself, I guess, but dammit.

bollocks, parquet courts have plenty of pavement-sounding tunes

xxxp Ha. Is it a guy? duh, my bad

tanya tagaq album is intense wow

tbh i find it hard to listen to, it is interesting but not enjoyable

xxxp Ha. Is it a guy? duh, my bad

Well, that, but also, what female-fronted metal bands have been soaking up ILM love? I can think of, like, two, maybe three?

also bristled at the notion that the vocals of metal bands actually fronted by women (and loved by ilm i guess) are necessarily "soft"

like, for instance, subrosa

Typical metal vocals are obviously one of the most common objections non-metal fans raise to the genre, so it wouldn't be surprising if soft female vocals in metal (assuming this is actually a phenomenon) would have some appeal to those listeners.

I seriously can only think of one metal album from last year that fits the description of having "soft female vox" (the Trees of Eternity album) and literally only I stanned for it here

gonna go look that trees of eternity album up right now

I seriously can only think of one metal album from last year that fits the description of having "soft female vox" (the Trees of Eternity album) and literally only I stanned for it here

― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Monday, January 30, 2017 2:46 PM (two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i'm guessing jeff is also referring to the mammoth weed wizard bastard record

personally i just enjoy typing the phrase "mammoth weed wizard bastard"

Yeah, I could totally listen to metal if the vocals were softer and more tuneful, and instead of the distorted guitar sounds they'd have wah wahs, and maybe they could add some sweet strings to the background, and instead of Satan and hate the lyrics could be about how love is the message.

That sort of metal I could imagine even liking.

The Völur album has some female vocals (and violins). That must have helped me like it.

(Well, maybe violin rather than violins plural.)

I assume that album is not going to make it at this point, unfortunately.

I don't think we're getting any more metal other than OP tbh

i woulda voted for the vektor but it slipped my mind during balloting

There's a ton of female lead metal, especially to those who consider the likes of Blood Ceremony, Purson, Jex Thoth, Jess & the Ancient Ones, Mansion, Madder Mortem metal. I don't know if you can consider them soft.

I don't think we're getting any more metal other than OP tbh

― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.)

Didn't realise Owen had gone metal. \m/

OP and Vektor, perhaps?

only kaytranada showed up for me today which makes me think that half my ballot no longer has a shot at placing! i should probably get around to that junior boys album at some point.

only placed kiss daniel so far. havent heard of most the rest of these. Really loving Astronoid rn.

which is basically torche+devintownsend+mae?

I love that Astronoid gets so much new love. It probably placed on here because many of us checked it out from the Metal Countdown.

only placed kiss daniel so far. havent heard of most the rest of these. Really loving Astronoid rn.

― Spottie, Monday, January 30, 2017 3:42 PM (fifteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yesssss

Anyone who likes softer female vocals in metal should check out Chelsea Wolfe, especially "Abyss". She desserves more love.

Junior Boys - like PSB, long gone off milk souring up the polls bc name recognition and nostalgia. Had completely forgotten this was released this year

Moodymann - none of his recorded sets have ever matched up to when I've seen him live, which is maybe an impossible standard, but I enjoyed this mix without thinking it was a particular standout

Tanya Tagaq - I've been meaning to get into her ever since Medúlla and maybe I shall now do it!

Kaytranada - I don't get what anyone finds special about a dude whose shtick is just "half-arsed J Dilla fetishist", this was a boring album

yeah couldnt get into that kaytranada album. probably woulda liked it ten years ago

Kaytranada album is weak sauce, but the icing is his Solange remix which sounds like he tossed it off in 2 minutes for a cash grab

I've never heard Mae before but if they're Astronoid-esque in any way then I will have to track 'em down

more the vocals than anything.

Anyone who likes softer female vocals in metal should check out Chelsea Wolfe, especially "Abyss". She desserves more love.

― Everything Moves Towards The Sun (Ross), Monday, January 30, 2017 11:10 PM (thirty-eight minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

discovered her in last year's poll, love that album

OT: with the search function completely buggered, anyone have a link to the 'watchu listening to 2017' thread? Or some other thread where raving about Julie Byrne's new album (gut-wrenching bare folky sing-song) is permitted or even encouraged?

Rolling Favorite Tracks + Albums 2017

What are you listening to 2017

Thanks Rudi!

(if I can call you that)

I am seeing Astronoid live next week, which is great since they're not the kind of band I thought I would get to see live. I am driving an hour to do so.

kaytranada is pleasant but i feel like i've heard stuff like this a million times.

i guess same with kristin kontrol but that also seems like a good record

with the search function completely buggered

Still reasonably easy to find things via google if you include ilxor.com in your search.

Also for active thread, go to the bottom of the page:

Show me threads that were last updated in the last week.
Show me threads that were last updated in the week before last.
Show me threads that were last updated between two and three weeks ago.
Show me threads that were last updated between three and four weeks ago.

Then just Find/Ctrl-F.

site:ilxor.com is your key to google keyword happiness

They sound like a boring Modern Lovers to me.

― jmm, Monday, January 30, 2017 8:50 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

can't quite find the right response to this

I am seeing Astronoid live next week

Catching them Saturday in TO, will report back in Rolling Metal

Friday in Lancaster, PA. Me too. :)

Damn it, I don't think I can make it Boston for Thursday night.

FYI: The drummer from Astronoid isn't touring with them. Seamus from Vattnet is behind the kit.

I like how that Moodymann DJ Kicks is blithely unconcerned at building a groove throughout and just wanders down its own paths but I didn't really go back to it after the first couple of plays.

Add me to the growing list of people who intended to get round to the Tim Hecker record all year without ever doing so. The Hauschildt is fantastic and I think the only one of my votes to place.

I'm interested in Tanya Tagaq and Emma Ruth Rundle - what sort of thing are we talking about here?

Most of the rest of the list suggests a few votes dutifully slung to some underperforming former ILM favourites but I dunno, did those Parquet Courts or Junior Boys records really excite anyone?

Parquet Courts didn't excite me (anyone?) but it did please me

this is astronoid album is very good, got a few more to catch up on, cool list so far :)

I couldn't get past the first track tbh, stuff like that leaves me cold + makes me hanker for a new Psychic Paramount album.

77 MARK BARROTT Sketches From an Island 2 (207 points, 8 votes)
76 GLENN BRANCA Symphony no. 13 (Hallucination City) For 100 Guitars (210 points, 6 votes, 1 first place vote)
75 TIM HECKER Love Streams (210 points, 7 votes)
74 EMMA RUTH RUNDLE Marked For Death (219 points, 7 votes)
73 MAREN MORRIS Hero (221 points, 7 votes)
72 PET SHOP BOYS Super (222 points, 7 votes)
71 ASTRONOID Air (222 points, 8 votes)
70 KISS DANIEL New Era (226 points, 6 votes)
69 BON IVER 22, A Million (230 points, 10 votes)
68 KRISTIN KONTROL X-Communicate (231 points, 9 votes)
67 STEVE HAUSCHILDT Strands (236 points, 8 votes)
66 JUNIOR BOYS Big Black Coat (241 points, 12 votes)
65 JUTE GYTE Perdurance (242 points, 7 votes, 3 first place votes)
64 MOODYMANN DJ-Kicks (248 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote)
63 TANYA TAGAQ Retribution (250 points, 8 votes)
62 KAYTRANADA 99.9% (251 points, 10 votes)
61 PARQUET COURTS Human Performance (255 points, 8 votes)

http://i.imgur.com/aQ5xMqQ.jpg

60 CASE/LANG/VEIRS case/lang/veirs (263 points, 10 votes)

beautiful album

I only heard the album after 'Atomic Number' placed on the tracks poll, and it is indeed beautiful.

love this record

http://i.imgur.com/YQFBDbw.jpg

59 JESSY LANZA Oh No (263 points, 11 votes)

case/lang/veirs is great

Canadian game strong this year damn

lanza record is good

hmmmm

btw when I said Kristen Kontrol was 'really boring' yesterday that was a bit of a disservice - upon relistening the album was much stronger than that, if not Teen levels of shambhala goodness

'm interested in Tanya Tagaq and Emma Ruth Rundle - what sort of thing are we talking about here?

Tanya Tagaq is an Inuk throat-singer who combines tradition & the avant-garde, is also fiercely political, and I hear a whole load of gothyness in there too.

(NB I'm not always on the same page as her wrt politics - she's talked a lot about native Canadian rights to club seals and stuff, I just don't know enough about that culture to make a proper judgement and my instincts are that it's still cruel even if it's traditional)

Think the issue is that for the indigenous people of Nunavut it's pretty much the only food source (and clothing source) esp in winter, but yeah a thorny issue, esp as they could easily hunt the seals in a more humane way

or maybe not that easily idk

i really love Oh No, so tense & full of hooks

Ok cool. Tbh I was hoping it was acid jazz

A lot of it (the parts without rapping, mostly) is reminding me of some of the acid jazz/trip-hop/Ninja Tune stuff I used to listen to.

Yeah, that's the thing: I just don't know. So on that issue I'm willing to just leave it alone and take the word of someone who has lived experience with it. And if I did want to start fighting on animal cruelty issues I could start over here with factory farming etc.

xxp

A new doc on the seal hunt from an Inuit perspective just came out. I'm hoping to see it next week. https://youtu.be/F4tfmdv5Z7w

http://i.imgur.com/eyxrhRh.jpg

58 KAITLYN AURELIA SMITH & SUZANNE CIANI Sunergy (264 points, 10 votes, 1 first place vote)

Oh, I'd be interested to see that too. K. d. lang vs Tanya Tagaq: FITE!
xp
Oh, that's interesting. I listened once and don't think I really connected but it's definitely in my wheelhouse so I should listen more.

I'm actually mostly quite enjoying Kaytranda.

keep meaning to listen to this, now's as good a time as ever

ear cruelty issues

enjoyed Sunergy in a low-key way but it felt like a minor curio after Ears (which I assume will place)

the appeal of Jessy Lanza continues to mystify me, there's absolutely nothing to her wispy music at all

It's good, and I voted for it, but it sounds like two synth players doing some extended jamming over an afternoon, which AFAIK is pretty much how it was made. Of course the unique qualities of the Buchla synths make the jams more interesting and idiosyncratic than if they were using Moogs or whatever. So fun to listen, but IMO shallower than the Smith solo album of last year, which I rated higher in my ballot.

Xxxpost

Sunergy was my #1, seaside Buchla vibes are all I really want from music atm

never got into Ears for some reason, I should probably give it another chance

the jessy lanza song from last year w/ dj spinn & dj taso was one of my favs of the year but her solo material is useless imo

Agree with the praise for Case/Lang/Veirs. Gorgeous record that really took me by surprise.

I couldn't get into Jesy Lanza's album at all. It all just seemed so forgettable. Her first album was much stronger.

Haven't listened to Sunergy yet. I'm presuming Ears is going to right up there on the list.

hmm, maybe I'll give this a listen at some point, given what sean says

http://i.imgur.com/HLC92LC.jpg

57 BLOOD ORANGE Freetown Sound (265 points, 8 votes)

too high

the crj joint on this is the worst song i heard last year

This wasn't the worst album I heard last year but it was definitely up there.

Probably the only time last year I heard an album and thought the "narrative" overwhelmed flimsy music.

Yeah, Blood Orange! Loved this.

didn't realize so many people were down on Blood Orange, I thought this was pretty great!

Nice to Sunergy on here too. Not as good as EARS, but a very chill listening experience, good if you need to go into a trance (or nap)

Is Blood Orange like R&B for people who don't like R&B? Because I'm actually enjoying this. Also: Nelly Furtado!

i like some of cupid deluxe but this just doubled down on the worst aspects (clunky drum loops getting in the way of any real groove, over-reliance on those drawn out synth pads & sustained piano chords, vocal melodies that are just quarter notes on the beat etc.) & had less hooks too

r&b for people who don't like r&b is a good way of putting it

Blood Orange' perf at Pitchfork Festival last summer was pretty effective (not bad dancing), and CRJ made an appearance.

http://i.imgur.com/lmpH7u5.jpg

56 HANNAH PEEL Awake But Always Dreaming (272 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote)

That's my #1 pick, although I wasn't sure about its chances of placing. It is gorgeous from start to finish.

TOO LOW

way too low

Bits of this were very nice indeed. I think I saved the long track near the end. An intriguing transition from folk to electronica

That makes a lot more sense when you realise it's a concept album about Alzheimers, how it becomes foggier and more abstract as it goes along.

I found this a bit limp tbh

this ended up being my #2 & maybe should have been my #1, it's really such a journey

fell completely head over heels for the Hannah Peel album right at the end of the year, can't believe Brad and I were its only two P&J voters. come for the weird electronic stuff like "Octavia", stay for the gorgeous melodies like on the chorus of "Invisible City"

and yeah the sequencing and the way it morphs as it goes on is impeccable

can't recommend listening to it on headphones highly enough either. so many spidery little details.

http://i.imgur.com/ctq7U1b.jpg

55 WILL LONG/DJ SPRINKLES Long Trax (278 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote)

gorgeous, would've probably voted for it had I realised it existed before December

my no. 3 even though the sprinkles overdubs are apparently terre trolling

Is Blood Orange like R&B for people who don't like R&B? Because I'm actually enjoying this. Also: Nelly Furtado!

― ArchCarrier, Tuesday, January 31, 2017 9:52 AM (twenty-nine minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i like r&b and i also like blood orange

this is very chill, love it.

I missed yesterday due to a bad back and a bum leg so I just want to reiterate to everyone that they should check out the Emma Ruth Rundle album and also her other band, Marriages, as both are really, really, REALLY great and worth your listening time.

EVP is the only keeper from the Blood Orange record, the rest is just whale sounds

First thing I've ever voted for that has placed in one of the polls. It was my #2 (of 2)

I do keep thinking its going to open out into a Theorem record though!

I dont even know this Will Long/DJ Sprinkles album. Whats does it sound like?

extremely minimal deep house

Peel album was good but not in the same league as her band's (The Magnetic North) I thought - also a concept album, but richer and tighter at the same time if that makes sense. My #1 (not expecting it to place).

this jessy lanza record is really fun

I've never really been able to get into DJ Sprinkles (and a lot of deep house in general doesn't work for me on a fairly basic kinetic level) but I'll give this a go.

will long's ambient work as celer is also tremendous

wait! Saer voted for one of those dusty old desiccated museums of dryness for bearded jazzers known as Albums?

http://i.imgur.com/0fbigsT.jpg

54 OMAR-S The Best! (280 points, 8 votes)

Loving the Hannah Peel, thanks ilx!

the best! is the best!

my no. 3 even though the sprinkles overdubs are apparently terre trolling

― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Tuesday, January 31, 2017 10:25 AM (eight minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

what's this in reference to?

Deserves its title, banger after banger.

Heheheh. Old emulators.

ooh i love this omar-s record, voted for it

so good

(I voted for the Magnetic North as well but I doubt it'll appear if Awake... already has).

the best run so far

i havent heard the omar-s but i bet id love it

what's this in reference to?

hm well now i can't find it but i feel like i read something (i think from comatonse) suggesting the will long tracks are tru deep house and the sprinkles overdubs embody the needless overdecoration of modern deep house

not that terre isn't literally always trolling or politically weaponizing music that can be traditionally enjoyed as "pretty" or "gorgeous"

potentially i also imagined reading that

sounds plausible

I like how that Moodymann DJ Kicks is blithely unconcerned at building a groove throughout and just wanders down its own paths but I didn't really go back to it after the first couple of plays.

My no.1 - my most listened to of the year, probably because of its lack of prescription. It filled different empty spaces in a variety of ways

Omar-S is so prolific and consistent that his albums can slip under the radar a bit but there was nothing wrong with The Best at all, was very fond of "Take Ya Pik, Nik" in particular

His albums are not always especially consistent, this one actually is.

glad that Will Long/DJ Sprinkles made it! was my #1. it’s really beautiful and uses sparing samples of civil rights speeches from Jesse Jackson, H. Rap Brown, Bayard Rustin, John Lewis, Kathleen Cleaver, and T.R.M. Howard over house music with really deep sounding production. Lots of space in the mix. It’s easy to get as a 2 CD set directly from Comatonse. Unlike the vinyl version groups the tracks are grouped into one CD of Long and one CD of Sprinkles overdubs

where can i hear this long/sprinkes album?

^ cosign
i've tried very little and i'm all out of ideas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkKwyjsJGxk

anyway i ended up buying long trax from comatonse. $30 well spent

http://i.imgur.com/9sMveJb.jpg

53 NOURA MINT SEYMALI Arbina (283 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote)

i've tried very little and i'm all out of ideas

lmao (me too)

His albums are not always especially consistent, this one actually is.

― Matt DC, Tuesday, January 31, 2017 4:05 PM (six minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I still think Thank U For Letting Me By Myself is probably his best album qua album (or lol, the Fabric mix, actually)

I voted Noura M S very high cuz it was one of the coolest shows I saw last year, good album

thank u for letting me be myself is really good

Oh now this is great. Didn't quite make my ballot (only just missed) but that was after one listen. It's wild. I'm not always a massive fan of traditional 'outernational' fare but this is face-melting. And dare I say it, somewhat microtonal...

there's something special about the roughness of Just Ask the Lonely that isn't really there anymore, The Best is his best since then, though

xpost, lots of samples of Long Trax on places like Boomkat, but there's no place to hear the full thing. Terre's nice to deal with and the stuff comes fast

wait! Saer voted for one of those dusty old desiccated museums of dryness for bearded jazzers known as Albums?

― calzino, Tuesday

I voted for two!

I like albums, i voted for 2 of them! I just wish there were more

this album is the best i was starting to worry it wasn't going to place

I would have voted for 3 but the 3rd had 2 great tracks and the rest was mediocre, so they went in the tracks poll instead

I've never really been able to get into DJ Sprinkles (and a lot of deep house in general doesn't work for me on a fairly basic kinetic level) but I'll give this a go.

― Matt DC, Tuesday

If you didn't already like any sprinkles records I don't think this one will convert, there are others better than this one

This Noura Mint stuff is incredible, wow

yea very good

Will Long DJ Sprinkles excerpts and option to buy here and here:
http://www.comatonse.com/releases/c026/index.html
https://soundcloud.com/two_acorns/sets/long-trax

Here's the full Omar S album on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLd247-xBd5O3TSmnSJ6rjSxdrPXwj8dfx

Tzenni was my #2 last year but I just didn't get around to Arbina early enough. The single was great.

Noura was right near the top of my ballot. What a band she has too

http://i.imgur.com/K2cFgoU.jpg

52 CAVERN OF ANTI-MATTER Void Beats/Invocation Trex (308 points, 10 votes, 1 first place vote)

what is this please

Lots of stuff that is the sort of thing that I should like but didn't listen to in this stretch. That is my poppin' fresh take.

ciderpress, it's Tim Gane from Stereolab.

making a long slightly aimless kosmische record iirc

it's a bit wank marvin in my esteemed opinion (after listening to 10 seconds of it).

ooh ok thanks

Quick question: has the metal poll been rolled out and if so could someone link me? Was away from ilx for a month or so, and search isn't currently working.

Didn't vote but enjoying the rundown. Emma Ruth Rundle is my discovery so far, not my kind of thing at all on paper, but the high quality songwriting shines through. Probably would've voted for Kaytranada and Steve Hauschildt if I'd got it together.

I have to say that the CoAM stuff I've heard is good, but it doesn't make me particularly excited. I would like to try the whole album, though.

ahh forgot about this one. good album would've made my list if i'd remembered

2016 metal poll: Fuck Brumpxit its the 2016 Metal and Hard N' Heavy Rock Poll Results Thread (With spotify and bandcamp links)

Ta Brad.

Cavern of Anti-Matter is my 3rd to place. I was really into it this year!

If that Underworld album doesn't place (and I'm thinking it got 78'd) I will have a grand total of 0 placing albums

lol

underworld are obviously going to place

this album does have a bit of a wanky jam vibe to it, but it's grown on me over the course of the year. I think a lot more care and attention went into it than is initially apparent.

There was something Borgesian about the CoAM record - like the copy of a copy of a copy, but with no original at the beginning of the chain. Diverting enough, like.

Really feeling this Noura Mint Seymali album.

I didn't realize this was a Tim Gane thing, though I probably should've when I grabbed the sleeve art and noticed it was on Duophonic. Basically, dude has a very specific wheelhouse, and this is no different. I'm into it!

I think I was the #1 vote for Noura but I don't have my ballot handy

http://i.imgur.com/c2QshMC.jpg

51 TWEET Charlene (314 points, 12 votes)

Noura Mint Seymali my only vote to place so far (tho I'll be surprised if I don't love the Sprinkles/Long record), gurgling guitar is amazing

No idea Tweet was still around. I guess she has a very topical name by accident. I'll give it a listen, loved Oh My back in the day.

Notice!

Lol *niice!

aahhhhh so glad Tweet placed, what a beautiful album - really nice companion piece to the King album, earthier rather than cosmic, her voice has such an amazing timbre. Also I never thought I'd praise the guitar tone on an album like I do with this one

"Dadada...Struggle" is probably its most out-there moment

http://i.imgur.com/ymwASPD.jpg

50 JENNY HVAL Blood Bitch (315 points, 10 votes, 2 first place votes)

That Mauritanian guitar sound is great, but I just want to point out it didn't start with Mint Seymali, not that anyone said it did. Dimi Mint Abba.

Apocalypse, girl was so much better. I am going to be a broken record about it.

Looking forward to hearing Tweet. Also looking forward to Jenny Hval not being a thing any more

(Oh, Dimi Mint Abba was her stepmother according to Wikipedia.)

Holy shit, this Cavern of Anti-Matter is incredible. Definitely would've voted for this had know of it.

lmao jenny hval beating tweet is :|

the tweet record is so so so relentlessly gorgeous

That Tweet album is so beautiful. Lex is otm about it being a nice companion to We Are King. It would be nice to see the Corinne Bailey Rae album make it too as that's similar in feel.

I came to the Tweet album after loving KING and Corinne Bailey Rae – the one of the three for whom the Minnie Ipperton analogies are aptest.

http://i.imgur.com/Nyw8v93.jpg

49 ANDERSON .PAAK Malibu (316 points, 12 votes)

yessss

Blood Bitch can be spotty, but the four or five best songs on it are just that good for me. I placed it high on my ballot.

OH YEAH. Paak time. Malibu is killer

Like Blood Orange, Paak's got onstage charisma, but his rasp gets monotonous for the length of a record. Still, a solid album, beloved by many people II know who didn't listen to much hip hop in 2016.

Paak seemed a bit lukewarmly received here unless i missed a thread. i enjoyed it quite a lot for a month and then didn't really revisit it again

And also by people who maybe did? xp

i've listened to that one jenny hval tune from the singles poll only once or twice and i don't want to revisit it but that phrase "sexual holding pattern" gets stuck in my head all the time :/

she is not a good lyricist

I preferred the NxWorries album, which I assume (hope?) will place later

tweet album is so good- thank u brad for putting it on my radar, was #9 on my ballot

I had no idea Anderson Paak had an ILM fanbase. It's so awkward when unimaginative artists try to do long ambitious concept albums because Kendrick did

I didn't even vote for it, but I'd not call it unimaginative. Lots of super exquisite details revealed with a listen through headphones, and the bg vocal parts are downright thrilling at points.

Tweet! Too many highlights to call them all out but the middle 8s on Got Whatcha Want, the coda on I Was Created For This and the guitar on Addicted (through The Hardest Thing) all stand out. I liked the King and CBR records a lot but I would def pick this one if I had to chose.

http://i.imgur.com/b0yu9is.jpg

48 WEYES BLOOD Front Row Seat to Earth (318 points, 11 votes)

beautiful record

love this one, didn't vote for it because i had just heard it for the first time a few weeks ago but have played it thoroughly since

too low

TOO LOW

I liked about half the Anderson Paak alb. Not sure why it was so offensive to some people here.

My #2. Songwriting like this you don't hear often

beginning of today's rollout is so much more interesting to me than yesterday's albums. loving hannah peel right now

I guess there's not going to be any Katie Gately appearance now several of the big-charters from the singles poll have got here. ;_;

idk about that

beginning of today's rollout is so much more interesting to me than yesterday's albums. loving hannah peel right now

― k3vin k.

Yeah, I'm just listening to the Hannah Peel album for the first time. Really great stuff.

I'd have voted for Weyes Blood if I'd heard it in time.

The songs that people aren't going on about...those songs are amazing too

with Weyes Blood, I really like the first batch of songs but start to lose interest towards the second half. I'm happy to admit that may just be due to my own short attention span.

weyes blood record is very cool

with Weyes Blood, I really like the first batch of songs but start to lose interest towards the second half. I'm happy to admit that may just be due to my own short attention span.

― Al Moon Faced Poon (Moodles)

I found the exact same thing. I don't really remember much about the second half.

Will listen to this later, the track in the singles poll I enjoyed the production but the song wasn't quite there. Is it representative of the album?

http://i.imgur.com/QiOjnJu.jpg

47 SKEPTA Konnichiwa (320 points, 14 votes)

yeah it's pretty representative

I voted for the P-Money album and (somewhat challopingly) Frisco's System Killer over Konnichiwa, which is fine enough but I wish he'd had a more consistently exciting album to match that whole zeitgeist moment.

loved the previous skepta singles that have placed in these countdowns, not sure if i really care to listen to a whole album tho. is there a standout?

I liked this, his brother's last record still a bit better tho. Closing track is lovely

'Man' is probably the other standout, but it was difficult not to feel like he had his head down for a lot of it. The JME album from last year is indeed a lot better.

it ain't safe on the block, not even for the cops

yeah Konnichiwa did its job in a very functional way which wasn't bad, it avoided most of the pitfalls that I feared, but it was ultimately just solid. Didn't help that all the best songs were so old by the time it came back - kind of had the feel of a great EP with those singles tacked on. I also voted for the P Money album, also the Trim album, but not this.

xps

"Lyrics" was the best non-single for me but even then it was like, yeah, deliberate attempt to recreate the raw energy of pirate radio sets from 15 years previously isn't ever going to have that raw energy itself

that trim album was excellent, i heard it way too late to vote for it though

Basically skip the Skepta album and go straight to this year's Wiley record instead.

http://i.imgur.com/G5My7Qi.jpg

46 BARTOSZ KRUCZYNSKI Baltic Beat (322 points, 9 votes, 2 first place votes)

dont know this but generally i like things with album covers that look like this so i'm sold

I enjoyed this the one time I listened to it but I never felt compelled to put it on ever again.

I discovered this one going through some of the nominations. The title track is one the best things I heard from last year. I didn't quite love the other songs as much.

just listened to "lyric", skepta has like one flow but all his songs i've heard are pretty effective

love this

what kind of music is this?

love this album, exquisite limpid noodling in a Vini Reilly in Ibiza kind of mode

xp yeah that's the thing, he's not very versatile in terms of performance (he's versatile in the sense that he can handle a range of beats competently); Skepta's great at hot tracks that work as singles or on their own but the album is just less than the sum of its parts

what kind of music is this?

i think it first got noticed on the balearic thread

http://i.imgur.com/reRMXyN.jpg

45 THE RADIO DEPT. Running Out of Love (329 points, 13 votes)

some great antifascist indie rock

consistently excellent band

Hannah Peel too low.

Baltic Beat was my #1. I'm partial to all things Balearic anyway but easily the album I spent the most time listening to last year. Title track and Parco Degli Acquedotti are sublime.

Bartosz is also one half of Ptaki which some ilxors might know from their Polish Edits and Przelot album

Baltic Beat is so good. i'm gonna have a much higher hit rate from my albums ballot than tracks this year, weirdly.

same here

woah I completely missed out on Baltic Beat, sounds great

wow Baltic Beat is right up my alley; somehow I'd missed this

love the cover art too!

I'm playing Baltic Beat again and it's really working. Reminds me of the Gigi Masin record that placed a year or two ago.

I had no idea Anderson Paak had an ILM fanbase. It's so awkward when unimaginative artists try to do long ambitious concept albums because Kendrick did

ice cold! i really like his voice, persona, production & producers, and drumming. sometimes the songs are forgettable but it's always a pleasant listen. i think his best is ahead of him.

I love Gigi Masin so will have to try Baltic Beat.

http://i.imgur.com/DMqsYeo.jpg

44 BRANDY CLARK Big Day in a Small Town (342 points, 12 votes, 1 first place vote)

The Radio Dept. album is the first one of theirs that really clicked with me. That sound really suits them.

amazing album. I knew Brandy Clark would be taking a step up when I first heard "Broke" live about a year before this was released - had it stuck in my head for 12 months just off the back of that. the why she curls the hook rhymes around the phrase "generic...coke" is so satisfying.

other highlights: "Daughter", about as cutting a new twist on the ex-girlfriend's revenge as I've heard (as in, "I hope you have a daughter, and I hope that she's a fox..."). And just as on 12 Stories she came through with an album closer to break your heart - the way "Since You've Gone To Heaven" pans out from being a personal tragedy to a family tragedy to a community tragedy and back again is so fantastic, absolute embodiment of the political being personal.

I mean, she's a writer's writer and that's just exactly the sort of artist I need, someone who takes that much care with their words. Love her.

she's the best

The Radio Dept. album is the first one of theirs that really clicked with me. That sound really suits them.

― Kitchen Person, Tuesday, January 31, 2017 1:22 PM (three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it's def a journey in that the record starts and ends really gently and shimmery and in the center is this massive austere techno thing

Haha we're listening to Occupied right now, it's great

yeah!

I still can't quite figure out why I loved the Miranda Lambert album while none of the other big ILM-touted country albums (eg Brandy Clark, Maren Morris) did nothing for me at all

it's def a journey in that the record starts and ends really gently and shimmery and in the center is this massive austere techno thing

― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson)

It took me a while to get my head round Occupied. It's such an uneasy sounding song compared to how accessible the rest of it is.

A lot of it reminded me of the Real Lies album from 2015. Not sure if that got mentioned much on here.

I hadn't paid attention properly to the cover art of the Brandy Clark record before now. Blown up nice and big, it's clever and appealing.

Good music too, obv. Just missed my ballot.

Also, I liked the Brandy Clark track that placed, so will try the album of course

the birds sampled on Les Yeux Orange sound like the same one's on kate bush's aerial

I just got to the end of the Hannah Peel album. I've enjoyed the whole thing but the last song being a cover of Paul Buchanan's best solo song featuring Hayden from Wild Beasts is the icing on the cake. Fantastic stuff. Would have definitely voted for this album if I'd heard it before now. My best discovery so far.

xp err sorry got the soundcloud title wrong, should be "Bartosz Kruczynski - Parco Degli Acquedotti " i think

I love that album cover

Way behind, but I really really like this Branca symphony: my plan was to listen to just a couple from each album so I could sort of keep up, but I was glued to this and listened to it all the way through.

The Brandy Clark album made my list too, and it's such a relief to hear her embrace production after the debut's well-intentioned NPR sepia haze. Listening to it last weekend, it still has one creative writing class moment too many; like I wrote at the time, at times the sheer number of details is oppressive. Waffle House? Ill-fitting sequined dress? Jeans needin’ patchin’? Check, check, annnnnd check.

just finished the caverns of anti-matter album, the closing track is gorgeous

Sorry...

http://i.imgur.com/5LfPP51.jpg

43 FRANK OCEAN Blond (346 points, 11 votes, 1 first place vote)

well it's lower than it is on any other list

ughhhhhh what a tedious slog of an album

n o t h i n g
h a p p e n s

so, so shit

well it's lower than it is on any other list

it already feels like no one talks about it anymore, I wonder why

a first place vote!

Hahaha that placement is hilarious.

like, i'm not just joining in the pile-on here. it's empty, dull, devoid of substance, full of meaningless signifiers of conceptual heft and importance, and i sat through all of it. get out

Kanye next please.

that would be amazing

one thing i'll say is that in contrast i suddenly feel like channel orange has charm and animation to it

I still like Channel Orange, but this is shiiiiiit.

he has gotten better looking, I'll say that

He's got way worse with each album. I actually quite like some of Nostalgia, Ultra.

weirdly popular with the young memeseekers and vaporwave surfers of RYM for some reason

i, uh, voted for blonde

my students adore him

Do your students not like songs?

they do, and they like to "vibe out."

there are four or five excellent songs on blonde

and also 13 other songs

never got through it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

http://i.imgur.com/VReMZ8U.jpg

42 ESPERANZA SPALDING Emily's D+Evolution (361 points, 11 votes, 1 first place vote)

more fuckin like it

I love Blonde (after being very indifferent to it on initial listen) and am okay with other people not loving it.

"The One" kicks so much ass

Huh. I only ever heard "Good Lava" which came out before the album. It was some Oysterhead bullshit so I never bothered to give it a listen.

Here's an interview with Esperanza: http://www.soundopinions.org/show/580

It's pretty funny, she doesn't even try to sound humble. I cracked up at one point when they mentioned something they liked about a particular song and she says something along the lines of, I know, isn't that such an AMAZING song? Ha ha.

^ She's a trained musicians who falls victim to overly flashy playing and arrangements on the album. It's still really great stuff though, just somewhat of an exhaustive listen front to back IMO.

Looking at that cover I feel like Anderson Paak is just out of frame.

It's a little too virtuoso-ish for me to really enjoy, but it's nice.

if this is an exhausting listen then what the hell is frank ocean

anyway, it's great. i didn't vote for it but i loved about 60 albums this year. 'unconditional love' and 'rest in pleasure' were two especial highlights imo, although it's all tricksy spirited goodness

It's still on my list of favorite albums! "Judas" is great.

fffv! Did you vote?

lol evan otm

I care very little about most of today's rollout but I did want to mention that I felt bad for de facto writing off Blonde without listening to it last week so I put it on and listened to about 4 minutes of aimless, self-indulgent noodling before tapping out and wishing I'd listened to my instincts instead

I'm coming around to Blonde, the main mode of stark, minimal Rhodes + vocals is really nice and striking at first, but loses its power when every song is like that.

Esperanza Spalding seems like a delightful person but the music is too Berklee for me.

http://i.imgur.com/UvHe0w8.jpg

41 SCHOOLBOY Q Blank Face (362 points, 11 votes, 2 first place votes)

a damn fine album, his best

my no.1 and pretty much my album of the summer.

Jadakiss' verse in "Groovy Tony / Eddie Kane" = A+

I love all Schoolboy Q's albums tbh, but yeah this is his most consistent yet.

great album. takes a lot of unexpected turns, often within songs.

Recap time

77 MARK BARROTT Sketches From an Island 2 (207 points, 8 votes)
76 GLENN BRANCA Symphony no. 13 (Hallucination City) For 100 Guitars (210 points, 6 votes, 1 first place vote)
75 TIM HECKER Love Streams (210 points, 7 votes)
74 EMMA RUTH RUNDLE Marked For Death (219 points, 7 votes)
73 MAREN MORRIS Hero (221 points, 7 votes)
72 PET SHOP BOYS Super (222 points, 7 votes)
71 ASTRONOID Air (222 points, 8 votes)
70 KISS DANIEL New Era (226 points, 6 votes)
69 BON IVER 22, A Million (230 points, 10 votes)
68 KRISTIN KONTROL X-Communicate (231 points, 9 votes)
67 STEVE HAUSCHILDT Strands (236 points, 8 votes)
66 JUNIOR BOYS Big Black Coat (241 points, 12 votes)
65 JUTE GYTE Perdurance (242 points, 7 votes, 3 first place votes)
64 MOODYMANN DJ-Kicks (248 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote)
63 TANYA TAGAQ Retribution (250 points, 8 votes)
62 KAYTRANADA 99.9% (251 points, 10 votes)
61 PARQUET COURTS Human Performance (255 points, 8 votes)

60 CASE/LANG/VEIRS case/lang/veirs (263 points, 10 votes)
59 JESSY LANZA Oh No (263 points, 11 votes)
58 KAITLYN AURELIA SMITH & SUZANNE CIANI Sunergy (264 points, 10 votes, 1 first place vote)
57 BLOOD ORANGE Freetown Sound (265 points, 8 votes)
56 HANNAH PEEL Awake But Always Dreaming (272 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote)
55 WILL LONG/DJ SPRINKLES Long Trax (278 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote)
54 OMAR-S The Best! (280 points, 8 votes)
53 NOURA MINT SEYMALI Arbina (283 points, 8 votes, 1 first place vote)
52 CAVERN OF ANTI-MATTER Void Beats/Invocation Trex (308 points, 10 votes, 1 first place vote)
51 TWEET Charlene (314 points, 12 votes)
50 JENNY HVAL Blood Bitch (315 points, 10 votes, 2 first place votes)
49 ANDERSON .PAAK Malibu (316 points, 12 votes)
48 WEYES BLOOD Front Row Seat to Earth (318 points, 11 votes)
47 SKEPTA Konnichiwa (320 points, 14 votes)
46 BARTOSZ KRUCZYNSKI Baltic Beat (322 points, 9 votes, 2 first place votes)
45 THE RADIO DEPT. Running Out of Love (329 points, 13 votes)
44 BRANDY CLARK Big Day in a Small Town (342 points, 12 votes, 1 first place vote)
43 FRANK OCEAN Blonde (346 points, 11 votes, 1 first place vote)
42 ESPERANZA SPALDING Emily's D+Evolution (361 points, 11 votes, 1 first place vote)
41 SCHOOLBOY Q Blank Face (362 points, 11 votes, 2 first place votes)

40 more to go

schoolboy q album is really great. perhaps a tiny bit frontloaded but wow - if the whole album was as great & wild as those first 5 or 6 tracks then it'd be one of the year's best. 'torch' and 'groovy tony/eddie kane' are fucking incredible

Blank Face was top 5 for me, a brilliant, menacing, gritty depiction of life in South Central

by any means & joHn Muir the standout tracks

John Muir is a stone cold classic, great vid as well.

those two were v good as well aye

On firmer ground today, with my #1 (CoA-M) and #3 (Spalding) and #7 ('Sunergy') all showing up, and having given most of the rest at least a try during 2016.

Most of Baltic Beat is on soundcloud, so have just been listening to that. On another day, I might have dismissed it as derivative, but actually it's combining lots of little things I like in intriguing, if relaxed, ways.

Onto The Best! then (via youtube)...

JoHn Muir amazing, other highlights (among many) for me were Dope Dealer, TorcH, and the title track.

john muir video
https://youtu.be/Iuq9XK6tojs

I'm amazed that the only album I've heard all the way through so far is Kiss Daniel. P sure something I know will come up soon but until then, I've got a lot of catching up to do.

you guys are seriously doing the capital H thing HuH

Hey Q manages to capitalize the H in every single one of His tweets--gotta admire tHe dedication

hannah peel pretty stunning on tonight's listen

"too Berklee" = relies on 'scholastic' cliches?

Hey Q manages to capitalize the H in every single one of His tweets--gotta admire tHe dedication

― voodoo chili

maybe his keyboard's just broken

Schoolboy had some good moments, but Isaiah Rashad made the better album. Seemed to be mostly ignored on EOY lists?

xps

https://www.berklee.edu/ not http://berkeley.edu/

Ha, I knew which Berklee he meant!

But, like, I'm p sure Jordan didn't just mean "damn wankers with their chops and shit".

[moodymann] felt like a really crucial mix for 2016. a really mournful album.

― nomar, Monday, January 30, 2017 1:32 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

wooooo

― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Monday, January 30, 2017 1:33 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this mix is so fn good, voted for it

― gr8080, Monday, January 30, 2017 1:33 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm

there's probably a really good & searing post to make about how when a woman makes a slightly proggy, slightly flashy soul/jazz-pop record she gets 'berklee' and 'too intricate' thrown at her, but i'm not the person to make it

There's probably a really good & searing post to make about how when you like something it's "proggy" and somehow the most intellectual glittering pursuit of art, but when you don't it's immediately "artless" and "non-compositional", but I'm not the person to make it.

Pleased to see Tweet in this list. Of the aqueous flotation tank R&B triumvirate of last year KING made the best album and CBR had the best song ("Horse Print Dress"), but this sits somewhere happily in the middle and is so consistently gorgeous - I didn't hear it until September and wish I'd got around to it earlier!

Well, she both graduated from and teaches at Berklee tbf; I'm just curious what someone who uses it as a criticism means by it. xxp

guttah guttah

(I voted for the Spalding at the bottom of my ballot, probably just because I didn't spend enough time with it over the year.)

i will freely admit that 'artless' and 'no sense of composition' are overplayed hands, alluding to my belief that the artist is doing nothing interesting or affecting

Not exaaaactly...like, I think in her mind she's making pop music and prioritizing the songs over flashiness, but it's still so soaked in a virtuoso mentality. Idk, I like virtuosos who can toss it all aside for the sake of a song or a beat or whatever (or maybe who shine as sidepeople).

xp